Friday, February 14, 2014

HappyValentine's Day! I hope you all have a special day planned, whether getting pampered, a glass of wine, a romantic dinner with the love of your life, or with the little loves of your life ;)

Here are some fun Valentine's day projects that you can do, along with some fun free printables! Just right click, save to your computer, and print! Easy peasy....

These are printables that I designed last year, but Cupid is still loving, so I thought that I would post them again! Here is the original post. Looking for more free printables? Got them here & here!

This is a bench that I hand painted with "LOVE" written in lots of different languages. It still remains one of my favorite projects. For the original post, tutorial, and a link where you can find a printable if you'd like to use it on a project for yourself click here.

And this ruffled pillow, with my wedding vows, would make a perfect gift for your significant other! I used a Sharpie to write the vows....so it's washable! You can find this post here.

What is your favorite Valentine's Day DIY project?? Maybe you'll make one of these your own. If you like what you see, I'd love for you to PIN it! Keep your eye out for Cupid today

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Hey! I hope everyone is having a great week and making some fun plans for the weekend! I get to see Sesame Street Live this weekend with my 3 year old, my cousin and her {almost} 2 year old. I can't wait to see the reactions on the girls faces when they see Elmo right in front of them! Any fellow St. Louis bloggers going??

Well this is actually a piece I redid a couple of months ago, but hadn't shared yet. I also know that I took before pictures but my computer broke, and when I sent it in to get it fixed, I think that I lost them. Or at least for now, I'll just say that I haven't located them :( . I really love this 1940's vanity/desk. I personally can only see it used as a desk, but I know originally it was made as a vanity. I love the chippy goodness!

Here is what I did:
I stripped the top, and re-stained it using my go to stain...Minwax Walnut. I love the dark richness of the brown. I applied 2 coats of the milk paint (I've also used it here & here). This time I tried a different method of mixing the paint though. In the past projects, I just stirred, and stirred, and stirred some more. I have found that the red is a difficult color to mix. I've even added a little dawn soap before mixing it. This time I put it in a food processor (one that will not be used again for food), and it mixed up beautifully! I loved how creamy the texture was, and it applied SO smoothly. I also have the mixer that looks like a milk frother (is that what you call it?) Maybe it is an actual milk frother that I picked up one day while getting some milk paint. It works pretty well. I think I like the food processor better, but the clean up is a breeze with the "frother". What do you use to mix your milk paint? I'd love to hear! Ok, back to the desk.... After the paint dried, I used a paint scraper gently over the parts that were already chipping, and then sanded the entire desk with a fine sanding block. I used a mixture of dark and clear wax all over the red, and 2 coats of dark wax on the top. The hardware is all original. I was a little sad that this piece sold so quickly (thankful of course), but I just loved looking at it, and I know that it went to a wonderful new home. I can't keep everything, right??

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Happy New Year! I hope you are all staying warm. Here in St. Louis we have had below zero temps and quite the snow fall! The kids winter break has been extended and we have had to make an unplanned trip to Indiana because my mother-in-law fell and broke her wrist. It was great to see her though, and even better to spent New Years day with her and my sister-in-law.

I've been trying to keep as busy as possible with 3 kids home. One project (or two) that I was able to get finished, are these cute little chairs that I found on the side of the road downtown a few weeks back.

My first thought was to paint them because I recently picked up some new colors of Milk Paint that I was excited to try. But the back of the chairs had such deep scratches in them, I decided that they needed to be stripped down and refinished first. I re-stained (only the backs) using Minwax Gel Stain in Brazilian Rosewood, and my vision changed. I didn't want to cover the beautiful wood finish any longer with paint. I cleaned up the rest of the chairs really well using ammonia and water and added a few coats of a high gloss clear acrylic. I recovered the seats in a yellow and white chevron fabric and here are the newest addition to the shop.

Hi all! I know that it has been FOREVER since I have blogged here, but I have had tons of changes in my life and also trying to blog a bit at Funkin Junkin. A few months ago, my husband and I separated, and I am slowly but surely getting into the groove of my new life in a new place with 3 kids. I have been refinishing furniture full time, while trying to keep my 3 year old occupied. Not always successful with that one, but who is?? I started selling my furniture on Etsy, (you can check it out here) and that has proven to be very successful! I wish now that I would have gone that route from the start. I am hoping to find more time to fill up the shop, but here is the newest addition and are some pics of what I have done previously.

I love the story of the chairs and will tell you about them in another post :) But here is what they looked like before

About Me

Hey there, I'm Jill! I live in St. Louis, Mo where I am a stay at home mom of 3 as well as work out of my home refinishing furniture. I'm the author of the blog, I Know the Plans I Have for You, and the owner of Speak Out Loud where I make jewelry. I recently opened up an Etsy shop called Funkin Junkin, where you can find my furniture creations. I have a 10 year old son and 2 daughters, one is 7 and the other is 3. I love all things DIY, and have a huge passion for refinishing furniture. My hopes are to inspire the way that I am in inspired!